Death... and me

While Droman and Rean greedily thought about the massive amount of Spirit Stones the sect would receive, Roan had once again returned to the Blue Orchid section. However, Malaka and Calina were not around this time since they went out for a mission together. That being said, he spent his training hours bully- helping Julio and the others.

After he was done with it, he returned and began to cultivate.

'Oh! You're cultivating already?'

The one who talked to him was Rean. Thanks to the last upgrade of the Soul Connection, their communication range extended up to 3000 kilometers. Droman and Rean just so happened to be inside the range.

'Old Worm went somewhere else. Besides, I've reached a bottleneck of what I can do with Alchemy at the moment. To create Peak Level Pills, I would need to be at least in the Core and Soul Fusion Realm.'

Rean had already expected that. The Side Occupations' levels were pretty much divided in the same way. He had to become a Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivator if he wanted to forge Earth Peak-Level Equipment. That was an easier way of separating the level since it could be done together with cultivation.

'I see. I'm not done with Droman and the formations here yet, so I can't sit to cultivate right now. However, I should be back in the sect in the next three days or so.'

'By the way, have you received any information about this possible war against Cassen?'

Roan nodded.

'Yes. Elder Tiria and Juvian are still there in Jiran Forest, watching over the Laan experts. That Saint Realm guy called Fuka had stopped by once to report what he found so far, and it seems like they confirmed that the situation is like Zuan told them. After that, Fuka left again and continued their investigation. Still, everything points to the start of this war to conquer part of Cassen.'

Rean nodded, not too surprised by it. Zuan had mentioned before that he wasn't lying when he explained everything to the Laan citizens. It was just a matter of time until they confirmed that this was indeed their best choice.

'What about the other powers? I doubt that Jialin Country was the only one to notice what happened in Jiran Forest.'

Roan answered straight away.

'Correct. The experts at the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Realm of Jialin locked the Core of Jiran Forest down. Low-level cultivators can't get close at the moment. However, the other surrounding countries noticed the chances and decided to send their own high-level experts to investigate.'

'It didn't take long until the news that a bunch of experts had appeared in our country. Fortunately, no one knows who they are or where they came from. Naturally, they don't know if those experts are Jialin's enemies or allies. Still, they began to raise their guards since more Jialin experts meant bad news for their side.'

Rean agreed with Roan.

'That makes sense, but it doesn't matter either. Elder Zuan and the other sects already took into consideration those things. After all, once the war starts, they would all find about those Laan experts anyway. The only thing we need to pay attention to is Cassen itself in case they decide to build defenses before the war starts.'

Roan shook his head in response.

'That doesn't matter. After all, the borders are just too big. There is no way to build up anything meaningful to that extent. They would need the help of other countries if they wanted to do that. Unfortunately for them, it doesn't seem like Cassen has any allies around as far as we know. Well, the same could be said to most of the countries close to the borders of the Empire, ours included.'

Rean couldn't help but sigh.

'It's kinda sad, don't you think? If a few small countries simply allied with each other, they would be much safer, but they don't do it.'

Roan snorted after hearing that.

'It seems like you don't understand how this world works yet. The problem is cultivation resources. They are thousands of times more important than any resources humans needed back on Earth. After all, they are directly linked to their own lifespans. Who would not like to live hundreds, if not thousands of years?'

'If they really made such alliances, they would not be able to attack each other. No, it would be worse than that. Those alliances would never be real ones. You would never know when someone might stab you in the back to rob your country of its resources. Only absolute might can keep countries at bay. That's what the Imperial Family has been doing so far to the point that all 10 clans don't dare to rebel against it, let alone the other countries surrounding it.'

Rean couldn't help but ask.

'Wouldn't it be possible to ally together to attack other countries' then? That way, they wouldn't need to stab themselves in the back and still get resources for everyone.'

'No. Because if you do that, the countries that will become targets will also ally with each other to move against you. It's simply a fear state. If that country was taken by the alliance, we might be the next ones. Only when mutual benefits surpass the fear of distrust will an alliance come up. In this case, the fear of being conquered one by one or the promise of benefits for the attackers. In the end, they would once again reach the same impasse. Since that's the case, they might as well stay neutral.'

Roan continued.

'Of course, I'm not saying that there are no countries allied in our Sasamil Empire. There are always a few exceptions to the rules. Maybe they have a deep relationship, perhaps they passed through turbulent times together, and so on. In any case, those types are quite rare in a world like this.'

Rean nodded.

'Still, I don't think such a state will continue for too long. Eventually, it will be a lot more difficult to start wars like this one we intend to do.'

Roan agreed with Rean.

'Seems like you at least understand your own doings. Indeed, the communication system will most likely reduce the number of new wars by more than 90% once it spreads through the entire Empire. After all, it will become a lot harder to conduct operations when the enemy side has constant communication available. Anyway, this is something that will happen far in the future. Perhaps we would have left this Empire already when the situation reaches this point.'

Rean pondered a bit before shifting his attention to the Soul Gem Realm.

'Sister Orb, would fewer wars reduce the changes of destiny? Or is it considered a major change instead?'

[Of course, it would be considered major changes. However, don't forget that each new thing you do to gain Destiny Points have their own caps. The Communication System will eventually not give you any Destiny Points even though the changes continue to increase.]

Rean nodded.

'That's fine, then.'

Rean then finished talking with Roan before returning his attention to the communication system.

Time continued to pass. Rean eventually returned to the sect three days later, where he focused on Inner Sect Fights and cultivation with Roan. Two weeks went by when Malaka and Calina finally returned. Calina had specially selected a mission outside of the country, so they took this long to come back. 

"What happened to you two?"

Rean looked at the two girls that were filled with injuries on their bodies.

"Didn't Roan say that we should have more dangerous experiences? We went to Javei Country, where an inheritance had been discovered. However, it was only at Core and Soul Fusion Realm level, so the Nascent Soul Experts stayed out. Still, many Core Formation Realm cultivators went there as well. Even a few Core and Soul Fusion cultivators appeared."

Malaka bitterly smiled as she followed up where Calina left off.

"It was horrifying. The people of Javei targeted those who came from outside quite often. Calina and I were obviously selected a few times."

Rean patted Malaka's head, knowing that she probably couldn't hold back and had to kill.

"There is no need to think about it too much. In such a situation, your lives were obviously more important than your enemies. You did a good job, Malaka."

Light Energy accumulated on Rean's hands, and he healed the remaining injuries on Malaka's body.

Even though she knew she could do it, Malaka still hated to do it. However, he soon noticed someone showing a jealous expression on the side. Because of her pride, though, she wasn't saying anything.

"Hahahaha!"

Rean also patted Calina's head.

"Of course, Calina also did amazingly well. You probably had to protect Malaka, who has lower cultivation than yours, several times, right?"

Calina finally smiled as she nodded.

"But she also saved me too."

All of a sudden, Roan appeared there as he looked at the two girls. His Spiritual Sense then entered their bodies for a moment before he nodded.

"Not too bad. Even though you two had only recently broken through, your cultivations seem quite stable already."

Malaka smiled as she nodded vigorously.

"Of course! We're geniuses!"

Roan ignored Malaka's shameless words, though.

As for Calina, she seemed to be a lot happier than Malaka after hearing Roan's praise.

"Ahem... I followed the steps you gave me. They helped me very much during my cultivation. Thank you."

Roan nodded, already expecting this much. After that, he looked at Rean.

"Finish healing those two and then come with me. We need to talk about Cassen."

Rean was surprised to hear that.

"Is it time already?"

Roan nodded.

"Yes. It should start soon."